Exploring the road less travelled …

Z for Zen

Today , in our Chinmaya Mission Study group , one of the members asked again..So why are we doing this? What is this Enlightenment or Freedom we are seeking? Is it permanent happiness? Is it a promise of immortality or a feeling of oneness and bliss? or a feeling of no suffering?

Just by coincidence, a simple and palatable answer came to me in one of Sadguru’s blogs

In the path of Zen, there was a person whose name was Huitti. He never taught Zen to anyone, but he was known as a Master. He carried a huge bag on his shoulders. There were a lot of things in it and some were sweets. In every town and village he went to, children would gather around him and he would distribute sweets and then leave. That’s all! People would come and ask for teachings. He would just laugh and walk away.

One day, another Zen Master, Nbanin, who was of great repute, came and met Huitti. He wanted to know whether Huitti was really in Zen or not.So he asked him, “What is Zen?”

Immediately, Huitti dropped the sack and stood straight.

And then he asked, “What is the goal of Zen?” Huitti took the sack on his shoulders and walked away.

This is what every spiritual pursuit is about.

When you want to attain Nirvana or yoga or Zen or whatever you call it, you have to drop your load, discard everything that is on the way, remain free, and be able stand up straight, detached and fearless. This is important.

With your load you may never be able to do it. One can also do it with their load on their back, but that is very rare. Therein lies the goal . To take up the whole load once again! But now it is no more a load; it’s effortless and done with a free light joyous spirit!

Thank You for travelling on this AtoZ blogging challenge where the theme has finally evolved to Spirituality all around us in wondrous stories!

I absolutely loved the last quote. These mountains that you are carrying are only supposed to be climbed by you. So profound. I have read somewhere that when we carry too much burden in our bags even physically, it transform into mental stress. The philosophy you’ve mentioned here is along the same lines, I believe. It was great connecting with you during A-Z. Congratulations on the successful completion of the challenge!